How To Master The Front Lever With Perfect Technique

in this video I'm going to summarize the most  important information for the front lever I'm about to cover the key technique points for a  strong and aesthetic front lever now whether you're doing the easiest progression or the  hardest progression you need to keep these cues in mind during your set this is one of the  most important cues to apply from day one having straight arms the front lever is a straight arm  exercise keep those elbows locked straight by co-contracting the biceps and the

triceps to  keep those elbows extended to create a strong and stable base we need to actively retract and  depress our shoulders aka the scapula during a front lever the mental cue of pulling the bar down  towards your waist is going to be really helpful for encouraging that depression to fully activate  the midback muscles the rotator cuff as well as the other Prime movers in involved in the exercise  a common misconception or myth when it comes to front levers is if you're not in full retracti

on  and depression your front lever is ugly your form is off and you're doing it wrong I'd argue based  on over a decade worth of experience research experimentation on myself as well as many many  students and clients this is not the case it's almost impossible to maintain full retraction  and depression if you're someone that's doing the hardest front lever if you're someone who's  taller and heavier it's just not going to happen with that being said it's the intention to go  into retraction a

nd depression which counts most this way you're going to activate those muscles  responsible for getting you into the front lver you'll be able to hold the position you'll be  strong in the position just because it doesn't look like you're in retraction and depression  doesn't mean that you're not actively trying to do it that's the most most important thing so  in your front lever when you're pulling the bar down towards your waist you're keeping your arms  straight and you're also thinking of

squeezing your shoulders down and back at the same time the  intention the mindset of doing that putting those cues into practice and intending to do them is  what matters most it doesn't matter if you're not in full retraction or depression it might  be impossible maybe there's a few people that can do it but for 99% of people doing the front  l they're not going to get to that point doesn't mean they're not doing a front lever so don't  stress about that with the lever progressions where the l

egs are together create a ton of leg  tension by squeezing the knees inward pressing them hard together on straddle based movements  spread the knees as far apart as you can I know it's uncomfortable to straddle wide but it  definitely helps create a strong front lever the last thing I want to mention is pointing the  toes this isn't just about making the lever look nice it's about getting more lower body tension  when you point the toes when you actively plan to flex the ankles you're going to

get that quad  involvement and it's going to radiate tension up your body so if you've got a tight core you got a  tight upper body and you're adding those cues of lower body tension it's going to create that  full tension into the front lever and you're going to have a strong comfortable lever position  but I always find it helpful to show the reverse in a really obvious way so this way we know what  not to do bending the elbows even slightly isn't going to strengthen the lever in the way that 

we want unlocking the arms is a sign that the exercise is too hard and that you need to take a  step back and choose a progression or hold time or band setup that makes it possible to keep  the arms locked straight when doing static or dynamic front lever based exercises having  straight arms is a non-negotiable you've got to keep them straight the following examples  show an incorrect hip position while the person is still keeping core tension as you  can see the hips are too high relative to

the shoulders next up the hip position is too low  relative to the shoulders as you remember me explaining earlier in the video you need to  have the hips and shoulders in alignment for a textbook front lever position this next example  is less common but it still does happen it's an excessive arch in the lower back this shows  that the person doesn't know how to create a posterior pelvic tilt get a tight anterior core  not as nice aesthetically it's less efficient to hold and you're not going t

o be as strong in  this position if you're relaxed in the trunk the lever isn't going to feel as solid and it's  going to result in sloppy form and reduced hold times another major overlooked area when it  comes to the front lever is how to breathe shallow but aggressive breathing is going to be  great for increasing what's called intraabdominal pressure and this is going to create a really  rigid lever shape I don't recommend holding your breath during the lever unless you're doing  a maximal h

old which is only for a few seconds but even then it's useful to learn how to breathe  because our goal shouldn't be to just do the lever for a couple of seconds we want to become a pro  of the movement which means we want to hold the exercise for 5 6 7 8 plus seconds and beyond that  point breathing is the best option do you want to master calisthenics shop Fitness faq.com to  become a bodyweight Beast let's have a chat about the different entry methods for the front  lever let's begin with my

recommended approach the tuck to EXT extend for this one you'll lift  up into a tucked front lever from here extend out into the progression that you're training I like  this setup because by starting in the most basic position the body alignment is more likely to be  correct from the start to the end of the set next up is the Ecentric you're going to lower from an  inverted hang to a front lever progression of your choice this one is definitely harder than the tuck  to because there's a longer

period of time before you actually enter the front L of your training  what I like about this one is we're strengthening the top range of motion every time we lower into  our static position the good thing about this is you're going to get stronger on other front lever  exercises as a byproduct of your effort so you're going to get stronger at your front lever pull if  you enter your Statics in this more difficult way the most challenging way of getting in into the  front lever is definitely the

pull you're going to start in a hang set your body position into  the progression that you're training and then pull up using brute force and hold the static  this one takes a ton of effort and is the most difficult because we're concentrically pulling up  in the hard progression that we're training into the static position so concentric is always  more demanding than Ecentric so you can see how we've got different difficulty methods less  time under tension with the tuck to extend and Ecentric

harder we're going through range and the  concentric is even harder because we're pulling up against gravity to hit that front lever in terms  of which method you should use for most people especially beginners I recommend just sticking  with the standard tuck to extend this is the best way for just getting into the front Le of a static  preserving your energy for where it counts which is just holding that front lever position later  on you can experiment with the other techniques and methods b

ut for most people watching keep it  simple tuck to extent I personally prefer a thumbs under technique because I feel more powerful  strong and connected using this method because I can place the thumb in contact with my fingers  getting a really nice closed grip on the bar or on the Rings and I feel this translates to better  Force output into my lever training however on the other hand some people feel more comfortable  with the thumbs over technique they often say that they feel like they ca

n put more downward Force  as they're doing their front lever and it's a method you're going to have to try both types  of techniques to see which one suits you most the other option that you've got when you're  doing your front levers is a false grip with this technique you're going to take an overgrip  now to do this you want to play place the meaty pinky side of your wrist over the Rings or over  the bar it is a really awkward position especially when you're first starting but trust me once y

ou  do it again and again with increased practice it'll be comfortable and it won't be painful and  it'll feel nice and solid it actually takes less muscular effort to hold the front lever if you've  got a strong F script the reason for this is when you do it on the Rings or on the bar you're  actually decreasing the distance from your wrist to your torso so it's decreasing the lever arm of  the front lever this means that you're going to be able to hold the exercise for longer or use a  harder

progression only if you're comfortable and strong with the false grip you probably thinking  which one should I use in my front lever training like I said before choose the one that is most  comfortable for you the one that you feel the greatest connection with during the front lever  whether that's the thumbs under thumbs over or if you're someone that is looking to improve your F  script maybe externally in your practice you want to improve ring muscleups or you just want to be  able to do fro

nt levers in a false grip then start using that false grip in your practice it's not  black and white you can mix and change experiment But ultimately at the end of the day you're still  training the front lever you're still getting a strong front lever it's just up to you to choose  I'm not going to give you black and white ways of doing things I want to be up to you and I want  you to have the most fun with your training